


Lurking Shadows

by alfisha



Series: Tomarry Oneshots [12]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Child Abuse, Child Harry Potter, Childhood Trauma, Crying, Gen, Harry Potter Needs a Hug, Harry Potter is a Horcrux, Horcruxes, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, The Author Regrets Everything, get ready for feels ya'll, too many toms in the cupboard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25240723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alfisha/pseuds/alfisha
Summary: They've locked him in the cupboard again.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Tom Riddle
Series: Tomarry Oneshots [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1708141
Comments: 9
Kudos: 122





	Lurking Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> okay! this is a lil thing i thought of. the 'shadows' in this is the Horcrux inside harry - since i don't think he'd exactly be a beacon of positivity.  
> anyway. harry needs love.

They’ve locked him in the cupboard again.

The darkness surrounds him, encasing him in a tight grip, and he can’t escape, there’s no escape, why is there no escape?

He should be used to this by now.

But each time he’s shoved under the stairs, a fresh horror awakens. The shadows speak. They taunt him, mock him, tease him again and again and again and-

Harry needs an escape.

_ No escape!  _ The shadows shriek, and Harry curls. Maybe if he becomes small enough, the shadows won’t see him, and he can escape, escape, escape…

The pain hits worse than the last time, as it always does.

Frail arms caress an empty stomach, tighter and tighter until he thinks his arms might snap, but maybe it’ll be worth it - maybe he’ll be able to hold himself together when it feels like he’s being ripped apart, maybe he can be better, be loved, be  _ normal _ -

_ Freak! _ The shadows scream at him, and Harry bites down on his arm to stifle a sob. The shadows don’t like it when he cries.

“Please,” he whispers, but he must not be loud enough. The shadows don’t answer him, they just keep screaming, shouting, laughing. They don’t care.

This time Harry can’t contain his sorrow, and his tears run free down his dirty face, gasps and wails and pleads tumble from his lips uncontrollably, and shudders rack his small body from head to toe.

_ “Shut up, freak!”  _ The shadows yell, or maybe that’s Uncle Vernon. Harry can’t tell.

He’s too busy choking on darkness.

It lasts for years. Decades. Maybe centuries. It has been millennia since he’s seen light; it has been lifetimes.

But eventually his sobs turn to raspy breaths, and the deafening silence assaults his ears. Harry almost wishes the shadows would speak up again, if only to remind him that he’s still here.

The silence stretches far too long.

Until… The shadows speak again.

_ You’ve been left here,  _ they say, and Harry winces.  _ They didn’t want you. They left you. You’re alone. _

Harry has no more tears, no energy left to cry again. All that escapes him is a pitiful moan. The shadows laugh.

_ We’re all that’s left. We’re all you have. _

Harry presses his palms to his ears, eyes squeezed shut. No, no, no, no, no-

_ Yes, you’re all alone with us. No escape. You’ll be here forever. _

The shadows keep talking, but Harry can’t - won’t - hear; he lets out a steady stream of nonsensical pleas, shaking his head rapidly and rocking back and forth, until only a few of the shadows’ words register in his mind.

_ Alone. Stuck. Freak. Unwanted. Unloved. Abandoned. Alone. Trapped. No escape. Dark. Forever. _

_ Forever. _

**Author's Note:**

> hey, you should read my other oneshots too  
> it'd make me very happy  
> only if ya want 🥺👉👈  
> also follow my tumblr. https://alfiisha.tumblr.com/


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